Faster Than a Speeding Anything
NEW YORK Fresh off a successful 1998 tie-in with NASCAR (see the special Entertainment supplement with this issue), Warner Bros./DC Comics has given Superman a busy 1999 by signing the Man of Steel to his own racing schedule.
A broad licensing arrangement boasting nine racing series in four motorsport sanctioning bodies – NASCAR, National Hot Rod Association, Championship Auto Racing Teams, and World of Outlaws – will produce Superman-themed stock cars, trucks, hot rods, and motorbikes.
The driver’s lineup is a who’s who of racing featuring hugely popular NASCAR names Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and champion racers from the seven other series. Each driver will climb into a Superman vehicle for one major race this year.
DC Comics and partner Action Performance Companies, Phoenix, AZ, unveiled the program last month with a press conference at New York City’s Tavern on the Green. The May through November racing schedule begins May 22 with Gordon taking Superman out for a spin in a Winston Cup race at Lowe’s Motor Speedway in Charlotte, NC.
Action is creating a line of merchandise including die-cast cars and apparel that will be sold track-side, in catalogs and hobby shops, and through Action’s SpeedMall.com Web site. Hasbro Inc. of Pawtucket, RI, will produce toys for mass market.
Troy, MI-based Kmart will sell T-shirts polybagged with a commemorative comic from DC in an exclusive promo over the May 22nd weekend. Cable network TNN, which will broadcast four races, will run special programming and promo spots.
“We wanted Superman to be out there, and associate him with the best and the brightest in motorsports,” says Joel Erlich, senior vp-promotions for DC Comics/Warner Bros.
